The Repulsive Bed
Clarence John Laughlin
American, 1905–1985

Details
Title
The Repulsive Bed
Artist/Maker
Clarence John Laughlin (American, 1905–1985)
Date
1941
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
10 3/8 × 13 1/2 inches
Credit
Purchase
Accession #
74.158
On View
Currently not on view
Referring to his own fraught relationships with women, Laughlin described this ethereal photograph of a woman lounging atop a collapsed, tattered bed in a decaying house as an “Image of those who endure marriage, without love, because of convention. [The] marriage bed becomes repulsive, and part of it turns into a monster head.” The veil across the woman’s face gives her a haunting look, as if she is fading away along with the house around her. The cracks in the wall reinforce the idea of a fractured, failing marriage, while the shadows envelop her in darkness.
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